From 77 felonies down to 2

PORT CLINTON — Due to a legal technicality, a man originally indicted on 77 felonies related to child porn now only faces two of them on his record. While prosecutors pushed for the maximum sentence, 20 years, the suspect will only receive up to four years — and he's eligible for parole in less than one year's time. Here's what happened: The case A Port Clinton man was recently sentenced after previously pleading guilty to possessing child pornography. At a court hearing on May 29, Leo J. Mahoney III, 22, 1100 block NE Catawba Road, was convicted on two counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, each a second-degree felony. Mahoney pleaded guilty to the two charges during a court hearing on Nov. 7, in exchange for the dismissal of 75 felony counts. Ottawa County Common Pleas Court Judge Bruce Winters sentenced Mahoney to serve three to four-and-a-half years in prison. Mahoney also received credit for serving a little over two years in jail and is subject to a mandatory term of five years of post-release control, according to court records. Under the terms of his sentencing, Mahoney is classified as a Tier 2 sex offender, which means that he must verify home and work addresses every six months for 25 years, according to court records. Mahoney is eligible for parole on April 4, 2026, according to Ohio's criminal database. Mahoney was indicted in April 2023 by an Ottawa County grand jury on 77 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, each a second-degree felony, and one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. The crimes occurred on or about Dec. 22, 2022, through March 9, 2023, when Mahoney knowingly downloaded obscene material depicting children "participating or engaging in sexual activity." Why were so many counts dismissed? Ottawa County prosecutor James VanEerten and assistant prosecutor Chris Enoch said that there was one legal aspect in particular that contributed to the 75 counts being dismissed. In Ohio law, there is something known as "allied offenses of similar import," which is a common occurrence in many child pornography cases. Basically, the judge looked at all the photographs in this case and viewed them as one collective and connected piece of evidence as opposed to individual and/or separate pieces of evidence, thus resulting in just one conviction. A court would have to consider whether all the images or videos downloaded are connected in some way, such as if they involve the same person or subject in every single one, or if they were found stored on the same device, Enoch said. If that's the case, it's likely that the person will only be considered to have committed one crime or "allied offense" and will result in one conviction, not multiple, according to Enoch. Both VanEerten and Enoch stated that, with the two charges to which Mahoney pleaded guilty, he could have faced a maximum of 20 years, which they both argued for. VanEerten said that whether or not he indicts someone on 100 counts or 1,000 counts, the judge on cases involving possession or reproduction of child pornography "almost always routinely" comes down in the eight- to 12-year range. "To say that we are disappointed in the outcome of Mr. Mahoney's sentencing would be an understatement," Enoch said. "The public should expect tough sentences in cases where offenders deal in unconscionable child pornography. They have every right to be indignant when an offender doesn't receive one."